Managed Services

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ITS has teams of professional, experienced systems engineers who provide support for servers on Windows, Linux/Unix, and VMware platforms. These servers host a diverse set of enterprise, departmental, and infrastructure applications.

Supported Operating Systems

The following operating systems are supported:

Linux/Unix: The Unix team supports Red Hat Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris. (In 2018, the Data Center will end support for Solaris, and migrate from Red Hat Linux to CentOS.) The Unix team also provides support for customers using the on-premise cloud-computing service, Nebula.

Windows: The Windows team supports Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016. (Existing servers on Windows Server 2008 will continue to be supported. Engineers will work with clients to migrate to a newer operating system before Windows Server 2008 is at end-of-life.)

VMware: The Virtual Hosting team supports clusters of ESX servers and shared storage.

Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the systems teams:

Develop hardware requirements and specifications: consult with clients and/or application vendors in developing hardware and software requirements and specifications for new servers and systems; coordinate information exchange with hardware and operating system vendors

For each host, configure the operating system in compliance with the standards required by UCOP, UCSC, and ITS policy

Set user and file permissions, manage operating-system accounts and groups

Work with application and database administrators to install software packages and make kernel-parameter changes as needed (packages are installed from supported package repositories only)

Grant privileges to the application and database administrators to install, start, stop and configure their software as needed

Track and manage OS-level SSL-certificate expiry

Management of OS and hardware: manage the operating system by installing OS patches; manage group and user-account information; coordinate hardware and OS support through the life cycle of the server

System monitoring: monitor server availability and track the utilization of server resources

For servers enrolled in the Data Center Backup service: install backup client software, work with the backup administrator to resolve issues with unsuccessful backups, perform restores as needed

Troubleshooting: provide 24/7 or 9/5 on-call support, as specified for each supported server or device; diagnose and correct hardware and operating-system problems; provide support to application and database administrators when they are troubleshooting applications/services

Serve as liaison with other ITS teams: The systems engineers serve as the customer's liaison with other ITS teams, including Information Security, Networking, and Operations

Responsibilities of the customer:

Develop hardware requirements and specifications in consultation with the systems engineers: consult with clients and/or application vendors in developing hardware and software requirements and specifications for new servers and systems

For physical hosting, provide a FOAPAL for hardware acquisition and ongoing operating-system licensing and support

The central virtual hosting service includes the ongoing licensing and support for the Red Hat Linux and Windows operating systems; for departmental virtual hosting, the client is responsible for guest-level OS licensing

The cloud hosting service includes the ongoing licensing and support for Joyent SmartDataCenter

Provide contact and escalation information, and keep that information current

Specify the operational support level for the server (24x7 or Monday-Friday, 8am - 5pm)

For services where pre-scheduled maintenance windows have been defined, prepare applications and clients for outages as needed

For services where pre-scheduled maintenance windows have not been defined, review and confirm proposed maintenance activities (if no response is received, system-maintenance scheduling requests will be considered approved)

Coordinate and communicate with end users, as needed, about application-level impacts of outages or scheduled maintenance

Alert systems engineers of emergencies, high-utilization periods, or ongoing issues that may require support or modification of maintenance schedule

Manage the application and supporting software to standards that comply with the standards required by UCOP, UCSC, and ITS policy

Maintain application-level software-licensing compliance and support

Track and manage application-level SSL-certificate expiry

Make requests and report issues to the systems engineers using the IT Request system; for urgent issues, follow up the ITR ticket with a phone call to the on-call or to a DCO manager

For physical servers located outside of the ITS Data Center, provide systems engineers with physical access

Data Security

The UCSC Data Center is appropriate for confidential and most types of restricted data (as defined here).

Eligibility

Managed Services are available to all UCSC academic and administrative departments.

Costs

For fiscal year 2017-18, the Managed Services rate is $51/hour.

The number of support hours is estimated by combining known fixed costs with projections for those services that vary with actual demand. Managed services can vary from month to month, but the support hours are calculated by averaging annual support and normalizing support over a three- or four-year period. This is to enable consistent budgeting and to avoid spikes when major system enhancements or replacements take place.

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Note: This service is also offered by Academic Divisional Computing and can be found here.